4.5 stars for Kristy Woodson Harvey's Feels like falling! This novel was my first ever written by Ms. Harvey but will most definitely not be my last. This book was light fun and engaging, which made it nearly impossible to put it down. You will become attached to the characters as we are introduced and get to know them. My opinion a perfect beach read and an absolute must for your tbr pile. A huge thank you to Netgalley for an advised copy in exchange for an honest review.

Special thanks to Gallery Books for providing our copy of Feels Like Falling by Kristy Woodson Harvey in exchange for an honest & fair review.

Wow! Can all books be like this?

Second chance romances, unlikely friendships, realistic & strong female characters make this such an enjoyable read. Kristy is able to write these stories with beautiful settings & some drama & secrets that keep me turning the pages. I loved Slightly South of Simple so much. Actually, I need to finish that trilogy immediately.

Both of the heroines are down on their luck. Diana & Gray are so different, yet they connect instantly. I love how refreshing & real Diana is with her real-life issues. She reminded me a bit of Drue in Mary Kay Andrew's Sunset Beach. I love hearty & authentic characters I can root for.

Gray is wonderful too. Yes, she's living a more privileged life than Diana, but she worked damn hard to get here. Yet, here she is about to turn 40 & her life is turned upside down.

THE VERDICT

I am Really Into This book! Kristy is just a queen. Her stories are refreshing, honest, lovable & bring a smile to your face.

This is the perfect read for this time of isolation and stress as it provides an escape to a happily-ever-after.

Gray Howard has a successful business but not a successful marriage. Diana Harrington has lost her job and is living in her car. Their paths cross resulting in Gray giving Diana a place to live.

The best parts of this book are the strong friendships. These are characters I would love to have in my life. They are supportive of each other and so much fun! They form their own family amongst themselves, bringing out the best in each other. The story runs through many emotions - loneliness, despair, hope, joy, sadness, laughter, tears. While not entirely realistic, the story is fun as they find their “happy-ever-afters”.

“Sometimes we get right where we need to be by ending up exactly where we started.”

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

This was my first time reading a book by Kristy Woodson Harvey. I found it refreshing and well-written. The characters of Grey and Diana came alive and I felt myself rooting for each of them during their struggles. I really enjoyed both of these strong, independent female characters and how their friendship blossomed throughout the book. This would be a great summer, beach-y read. Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for a digital arc of this title.

This was my first book by Kristy Woodson Harvey and I really enjoyed it. If you enjoy Elin Hilderbrand, you'll probably be a fan too. Told from the viewpoints of Gray, a 35 year old, newly divorced mom of an 8 year old and Diana, a newly single, down-on-her luck 40 year old that is currently between jobs and between homes.

This is a light beach read but with beautifully developed characters that you will fall in love with and that will have you tearing up in the end. I really enjoyed the new definitions of family and the strong female bonds that developed.

Thank you to Kristy Woodson Harvey, #TallPoppyWriters group and #NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

Feels Like Falling is like a warm summer breeze....Kristy Woodson Harvey has become one of my favorite authors.
If you love Elin Hilderbrand, Mary Alice Monroe and Nancy Thayer....then Kristy Woodson Harvey is a must read!

Feels Like Falling was exactly what I needed during the uncertainty that all of us are going through. I was in need of a book that was an engaging beach read and this was it!

You will get lost in this book as the characters navigate life. It was the perfect escape....to the beach!! Feels Like Falling is has all the feels and is filled with quotes that will stay with you forever. Until now I didn’t think I could pick any of her books as my favorite, but this just may be it.

Fells Like Falling is emerging southern voice Kristy Woodson Harvey’s sixth book. Set in fictional Cape Carolina, NC, this is the story of two women who become the most unlikely of best friends. Gray Howard is in a downward spiral. She recently lost her mother to cancer, her sister to an evangelical preacher, and her husband to the assistant she had hired to help him in the job she had given him. The only good things this early 30s entrepreneur has going right now is her 8 year old son, her summer home on the Cape, and her best friend Marcy there to cheer her own.

Diana Harrington’s life has never been lived on a level playing field. Her single mother had deserted Diana and her three siblings, all from different fathers, when Diana was just a child. Her older brother, Charles, tried to keep the kids together, but he was only a kid himself. The four were split apart, three going into the foster system, one into a home, since Phillip had severe autism issues. Now, at 40, Diana is leaving yet another no good relationship and is fired from a dead end job.

Because Gray feels responsible for Diana’s job loss, she brings her in as a housekeeper, giving her homeless new “friend” a job and a place to stay. The two women find they begin to rely on each other as more than job-based alliance, Gray opening doors for Diana, Diana opening thoughts for Gray.

This story is a lovely blend of differences that shines a light on how great the similarities of the two protagonists are. Over the course of this summer season on the Cape, each woman will find a deep friendship as well as their path for the future. This very interesting and witty book featured strong female characters in a lovely coastal setting. I very much enjoyed this humorous and tender tale and do recommend it!

A great summer/beach/poolside read. Or maybe it's a rainy afternoon and you just want a lovely, heartwarming story about two very different women. Gray Howard is almost-divorced, driven and successful. She's got her own internet business, tons of money, a son she adores, and a beautiful beach house in North Carolina. She inadvertently gets Diana Harrington fired from her job at the local pharmacy. Diana had a traumatic childhood that's affected her whole life. Now she's broke, living in her car, and wondering how she will take care of herself yet again.

Feels Like Falling is told from the dual POV of Gray and Diana during one magical summer in NC. It's a mixture of sweetness, sadness, romance, motherhood, and it was the perfect escape. For anyone who loves women's fiction, a Southern setting, good dialogue and interesting characters. I will definitely look to read more of Kristy Woodson Harvey's books.

FEELS LIKE FALLING by Kristy Woodson Harvey is now my new favorite novel by her. The author has such a genuine way of writing female dialog and the two female leads in this story are excellent. Gray and Diana are two strong characters who have faced various trauma in their lives. They come together when Diana is fired from her latest job and Gray feels she got her fired. What develops out of a feeling of obligation is a genuine friendship full of love and sarcasm and support between two women who otherwise would never have met. They are two women who daily mourn the loss of their mothers but find that family isn’t limited to who you are related to. As a big believer in “friend family”, I loved this aspect to the book and I liked all the different kinds of parental units in this novel. This great Southern fiction story sticks with you and will make you laugh and get a little teary and want a cocktail – like great female friendships can do. And yes, book club friends, there is a bow.

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.

Feeling Like Falling by Kristy Woodson Harvey ~ Reviewed April 17, 2020

Story is told from the POV of two independent women: Gray age 34and Diana is 40, they are as different as day and night. However, they both have are having similar struggles. They met after their normal happy lives fall and establish an unlikely friendship.

This light women’s check lit was different than my normal reads but I do like stories about the South. Having vacationed in NC many times before moving to Southern California, this novel reminded me of the type of novels I like to read at the beach either in NC or CA.

Want to thank NetGalley and Gallery Books for this ARC granted to me in exchange for an honest professional review. Publishing Release Date scheduled for April 28, 2020

This was just the escape I needed. I have loved all of Kristy's books but I think this one might be my favorite of hers. The story alternates POVs between Grey and Diana. Grey is in the middle of a divorce, fighting to keep her multimillion dollar company, and raising a precious son. Diana has had a rough go. She was raised in the foster system after being left by her mother, she fell in love at a young age but has bounced around with an interesting bunch of men since then - and collected souvenir t-shirts along the way. We also get to know two other ladies - Grey's sister, Quinn, who left her wild days behind to marry someone Grey deems a cult leader and Marcy, Grey's longstanding best friend who is ready to settle down and find the love of her life. This book is a joy and so heartwarming.

Feels Like Falling is the kind of book readers will want in their beach bags this year. It's the ideal read for lazy afternoons by the pool. The kind of novel you want to enjoy while you're on vacation. The pacing is great, the tension is strong and the dialogue is well-crafted.
Diana is my absolute favorite part of this story. Her trajectory as a character, her strength, the challenges in her past that shape her choices and her behavior, her great sense of humor and her determination to fight for what she wanted made me admire her. Diana is a fantastic fictional heroine that I rooted for the whole time. She's the kind of character every women's fiction novel needs and she's the reason I kept reading.
Having said all of that, I did not particularly care for Gray, the other protagonist in the novel. She seemed rather shallow and self-absorbed. I didn't quite get why the other characters found her so delightful. Being angry at her mother for "leaving" her didn't feel like plausible motivation for her behavior. She's fickle and does whatever she wants while secretly hoping for her own happy ending.
I prefer something more substantive in a heroine.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the complimentary copy. All opinions shared here are my own.

Cute, cheesy, easy read. The characters were endearing. The love story was adorable. The whole “I’ll hire this stranger to be my housekeeper on a whim” was unbelievable but typical of this genre. A good summer/beach read. I’d recommend this to rom com fans, working mothers and divorcées, and lovers of southeastern coastal summers.

“Maybe it feels like you’re falling. But, in reality, that’s when you’re learning to fly.”

This book centers on two very different women. Gray is a recently divorced mom and owner of a very successful business. Diana is also recently single but, unlike Gray, she is now homeless and jobless as well. The two cross paths by chance and they spend the summer forming the most unlikeliest of friendships while finding love and finding themselves in the process.

This is my first book by Kristy Woodson Harvey and I loved it! I can never turn down a good southern, coastal piece of women’s fiction and this one did not disappoint. I’ve come to learn a southern beach town is my favorite setting to read.

I adored both Gray and Diana. Although they have lived very different lives, they form the most beautiful friendship as they help each other through their struggles and triumphs. Diana has a heartbreaking story to share and I loved watching her heal and learn to trust again.

I absolutely loved this book. You have a “Trailor trash orphan” and a self made millionaire. Who would have thought that they would have made the perfect pair.

Diana is a 40-year-old orphan who has pretty much struggled her whole life.Then you have Gray who made her own company into a powerhouse! These two accidentally come together. But was it an accident or was it fait? Diana finds herself without a job and she blames Gray for that even though it’s really not her fault. So she approaches Gray for what she feels is only fair. Get her job back. But what she gets is so much more and better! She gets a family and friendship she couldn’t have even wished for!

Gray is a single mother whose husband recently left her for someone younger. Her mother has recently passed away and she finds herself in a pivotal moment of her life. She didn’t realize how much she needed the help of one woman. We are taken on a journey with her through loss love and acceptance.

I need to look up more books from this author because it was great. I do tend to favor books that have that beachy vibe. And you get that and more within this book.

My favorite quote: Sometimes we get right where we need to be by ending up exactly where we started.

Kristy Woodson Harvey has another hit on her hands! She has quickly become a quintessential "beach read" author that I recommend to all my friends and fellow book lovers. I adored her Peachtree Bluff series, and I was so excited to get an ARC of her new standalone.

Feels Like Falling is a terrific character study of two women Gray and Diana, each with wonderful fun fully fleshed out personalities and there family/relationship troubles, and the book has so much heart and soul in it. I was fully invested in Gray's life and kept wanting to turn the page to see what happened to her, and Diana was such a hoot that kept me laughing throughout the book with her Southern wise cracking remarks.

Readers are going to adore Feels Like Falling and fall in love with Kristy Woodson Harvey's writing just like I did!

Feels Like Falling is a great book about two women and their growing friendship. I loved reading how their characters evolved and grew. I do with that the love interest was more prominent and developed a bit more though. I thought this was a good summer/beach read and will read more from Kristy Woodson Harvey.

I received a reviewer copy of Feels Like Falling by Kristy Woodson Harvey from the publisher Gallery Books from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What It’s About: Gray is going through a rough time, she is going through a rough divorce, mourning her mother who recently died, and feels isolated from her sister who has married a cultish pastor. Diana has had a rough go at it, abandoned by her mother as a young girl she grew up in the foster care system and has struggled since then. Now, she is leaving her boyfriend who has lost all their money gambling. Then the two women meet after Gray gets Diana fired, but it might be the best thing that they ever did.

What I Loved: This book is escapist reading right now, it is the standard summer reading, set on the Carolina coast and the story of two women starting a new aspect of their life. The characters are warm and their friendship is so cheery and delightful. This book is all light and fun and sunshine.

What I didn’t like so much: At times there are some stereotypes of men that make them not respectful or likeable. The women characters are pretty well developed but the men get on my nerves which makes the romance aspect of the book not the best.

Who Should Read It: People who want a light read. People who want a beach read. People who love books about female friendship

General Summary: Two women in the midst of their lives falling apart, find each other and their friendship changes everything.

I loved several of Kristy Woodson Harvey’s earlier books, so I was excited to have the opportunity to read her upcoming release, “Feels Like Falling.” I find her writing style to be so smooth and soothing, even as her characters face serious challenges. And “Feels Like Falling” completely lived up to my expectations!⁣⁣
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“Feels Like Falling” focuses on two women spending the summer in a town on the North Carolina coast. Gray is an entrepreneur and almost-divorced mother, grappling with her mother’s recent death and a betrayal from her sister. Diana has just broken up with her boyfriend and is struggling to make ends meet and find a place to stay. After Gray unintentionally gets Diana fired from her photo lab job, the two women’s lives begin to intertwine as they help each other embrace love and move towards better futures.⁣⁣
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This book was so heartwarming, and exactly what I was in the mood for last week! I loved the North Carolina coast setting, which made it feel like even more of an escape from the real world. The themes of female friendship, moving on from the past, and finding both professional and romantic happiness were skillfully woven together. At times, I did feel like the story became quite soapy, but this didn’t impair my enjoyment of the book too much. I think that fans of Elin Hilderbrand’s books would really enjoy this one, as both authors create atmospheric coastal settings and a blend of serious and light-hearted elements. Definitely keep an eye out for this one later this month if you’re looking for a sweet escape read!⁣⁣
[Posted on my Instagram page, @emily_lovesbooks on 4/9/20]

When I saw that Kristy Woodson Harvey had another book coming out, I was so excited to get a copy. After reading her Peachtree Bluff series, I fell in love with her Southern fiction style of writing. Feels Like Falling, while in my opinion isn't as "Southern", it certainly is just as good. Set in a beach town in North Carolina, two women, from completely different backgrounds have a chance encounter. During the summer of this meeting they become the best of friends. Neither Gray nor Diana would realize how much their friendship would come to mean to each other and how it is helping them cope with their personal troubles and triumphs. I loved the way Ms. Harvey developed the story line in alternating the chapters between Gray & Diana. This made the flow so comfortable to read. The secondary characters were also so very likable, so much so that I am hoping for a sequel. For an enjoyable and heartwarming read, I recommend picking up a copy!
Thanks so much to Gallery Books and Netgalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.